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a a J. R. LAWRENCE.

Tobacco Packing Machine.

No. 242,782. Pater fled June 14,1881.

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J. R. LAWRENCE. Tobacco Packing Machine.

No. 242,182 Patented June 14, I881.

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' UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JAMES R. LAwnENcE, OF DURHAM, NORTH CAROLINA.

TOBACCO-PACKING M'ACHINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 242,782, dated- June14, 1881.

Application filed November 13, 1880. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

, Be it known that I, JAMES R. LAWRENCE, a citizen of the United States,residing at Durham, in the county of Orange and State of North Carolina,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Tobacco-PackingMachines; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, andexact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilledin the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, referencebeing had to the accompanying drawings, and to letters or figures ofreference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

Thepresent invention consists in certain constructions, combinations,and arrangements of parts hereinafter described, and designated in theclaims, and are designed as improvements upon the machine for whichLetters Patent of the United States were granted me July 31, 1877.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a front view of the machine.Fig. 2 is an elevation of the left side of the machine. Figs. 3 and atare views of guides below the table. Fig. 5 is a view of thefunnel-lifter. Fig. 6 is a view of the mechanism which operates theagitators in the hopper. Figs. 7 and 8 are views of the oscillatingmeasuring-cylinder. Fig. 9 is a view of the grooved cam. Fig. 10 is aview of one of the rods which carries the funnel-lifter.

The letter A designates a table, supported by a suitable frame, A. Ashaft, B,has bearings in the frame, and a pinion, b, and a drivepulley,b, are mounted on the shaft, preferably on one end, outside of the frameThe pinion 1) drives a wheel, 0, upon the main shaft 0, which extendsacross below the table. Upon this shaft aremounted two cams, L, bothexactly alike, one being near each end of the shaft. At or near thecenter of the shaft a third cam, N, is secured, and upon the extremityisa cam-lever, c, all for purposes hereinafter described.

Between the cam-lever c and the side of the frame A a verticalslide-rod, D, is interposed, riding on the shaft (3 by means of anupright slot, d, which fits the shaft. A pin, 61, below the shaft 0, andanother pin, d above the shaft, are fastened to and proj ect from thesliderod D, and by the cam-lever c acting on these pins the slide-rod israised and lowered. The upper end of the slide-rod is provided with atoothed rack, D, which gears with a pinion, E, of the extendedrock-shaft e, which carries the single oscillating measuring-cylinder E.The construction of this deviceis an improvement on that shown in myformer patent before named, and the object is to provide and adapt forthis machine an adjustable measure I whose top opening shall always bepfthe same dimensions. To this end .a movable bottom, E is provided, (seeFig. 7,) which is raised or lowered by two levers, 0, each pivoted byone end to the movable bottom, and by the other end to a threaded nut, 6the said nuts being on a screw, 6 one end of which has a thread cut tothe right and the other end a thread cut to the left, and one extremityof the screw projects at a, serving to facilitate it's turning andeffect the adjustment of the bottom. It will be seen that by turning thescrew one way or the other the bottom of the measure is raised orlowered, and thereby the capacity of the measure is lessened orincreased,

while its top or month remains the same size 5 thus a regular and equalfilling of the measure is secured, no matter whether it be adjusted fora large or small package. The vertical stroke of the slide-rod D is suchthat at its ilpward termination the measuring-cylinder is partly rotatedor turned with its mouth upward, ready for the reception of the tobacco,and at the downward termination of the stroke the measure is partlyrotated again and upset,

- discharging its contents.

The measuring-cylinder is inclosed in a cover, F, which is secured tothe lower part of the hopper Gr. To the lower part of the cover isattached a stationary guiding-funnel, F, which latter delivers thetobacco into the movable package-funnel H. A shaft, G, is passed throughthe sides of the hopper, and is provided within the hopper with radialarms g, which serve as stirrers or agitators, and near the extremity ofthe shaft, outside of the hopper, a ratchet-wheel, g, is mounted. Oneend of a lever, I, (see Figs 1, 2,.and 6,) is pivoted on the extremityof the shaft, alongside of the ratchet-wheel, and carries a pawl, k,which engages with the ratchet-wheel. end of the lever is connected bymeans of a link-rod, 7a, with the cross-head J, which has a The other 6oride on the shaft vertical reciprocating movement. This arrangement oflever, pawl, and ratchet-wheel gives to the agitators g a rotary motion,instead of an' oscillating motion, as shown in my former patent.

The tobacco-bag to be filled is drawn over the lower part of the movablefunnel H, and then the said part of the funnel with the bag over it isinserted into a form or receptacle, H,

and the mouth of the funnel is then placed under the guiding-funnel Fand receives the tobacco which is delivered therefrom. The straight partof the movable funnel should be long enough to receive and hold theentire quantity of the tobacco to be packed, so that none should lie orpile up on the flaring top part. The funnel H, bag, and receptacle H arenow to be placed in position. The flaring top part of the funnel restswithin the threesided lifter P, (see Figs. 1, 2, and 5,) and thereceptacle H is slid under the frame Z, by which it is held to thetable. The tobacco is then rammed down by one downward motion of thepresser-rod k, the upper end of which 2 5 is screw-threaded and passesthrough the crosshead J, the screw-thread serving to effect the verticaladjustment of the rod to suit packages of different sizes. Thecross-head J is carried by the two vertically-movin g rods 1, each of 0which works in a guide, f, secured to the upper frame A and passesthrough ahole in the table, and thelower end of each rod is provided(see Figs. 3 and 4,) with a head, through which is passed alaterally-projecting pin, it, on which 3 5 a friction-roller, h, ismounted. The head at the lower end of each rod I moves in verticalguides f below the table. The cams L on the shaft 0 are each provided onone side with a groove, *5, having'on the outer side a flange, Z,

40 and on the inner side a flange, m. The flange land groove at thatpart, a, of the cam immediately adjoining the eye through which theshaft 0 is passed, forms a segment of about ninety degrees of a circleof very short radius,

5 as shown in Fig. 9, and serves the purpose hereinafter described. Thatpart, 8, of the cam diametrically opposite the part 1 forms a A segmentof about ninety degrees of a circle "which is most remote from the axisof rotation. The friction-roller h of the vertically-moving rod on oneside works in the groove i of one cam, and the one on the other side inlike manner works in the groove of the other cam.

The apparatus for lifting the funnel is seen in Figs. 1, 5, and 10. Thefunnel-lifter P is carried by two vertical rods, 1), which pass throughthe table, the lower end of each being provided with a link-shaped head,It, embodying a vertical slot, q, by means of which the said rods Thesaid rods are connected together by a bolt or shaft, 1", whereon ismounted, between the two rods, a frictionroller, 0%, against which thecam N on the main shaft bears. It will be seen the rotation of the cam Nwill, by bearing upward against by withdraw the said funnel from the bagand receptacle H, as indicated in dotted lines in Fig. l. y

The operation, briefly stated, is as follows: The hopper being suppliedwith tobacco and the machine set in motion, one of the movable funnels,having a bag drawn over its lower part and inserted into a form orreceptacle, is placed below the funnel F and receives the quantity oftobacco for one package. The funnel H, bag, and receptacle are thenmoved to position under the presser-rod, as before described. B y theaction of the cams L the plunger is brought down, and is retained inthis position while the part n of each cam is "passing over thefriction-roller h. While thus momentarily retained the cam N is broughtagainst the friction-roller n and the funnel is withdrawn from thepackage. The presser-rod is then raised, and is momentarily retained atits elevated position while the part 8 of the two cams, which is nowuppermost, is passing the friction-rollers, and while thus retained thetobacco-bag which has been packed is removed from position and anotherfunnel and bag, loosely filled from the measuring'cylindcr and containedin the forming-receptacle, is placed underneath the presser-rod, whenthe same operation is repeated.

By the herein-described construction of the cams L the power is appliedto the presser-rod k to bring it down on the tobacco in the packagefirst, when that part, 1', of the groove of the cam most remote from itsaxis of rotation begins to pass over the friction-roller h, at whichpart the cam exerts its least power, and then as the tobacco isgradually compressed the friction-roller is operated on by the camgrooveat points which are nearer and nearer the center of power-namely, theaxis or shaft O-so that the greatest power is applied just at the timewhen it is most needed.

Having described my invention, I claim and desire to secure by LettersPatent of the United States- 1. In a machine for packing granulatedtobacco or other material, the measuring device consisting of areceptacle provided with pivots by which it may upset, and having abottom, E to be raised or lowered by means substantially as described,whereby the capacity of the measure may be adjusted, while the topopening always remains of the same dimensions, as set forth.

2. In a tobacco-packing machine, the combination of the adjustablepresser-rod k, crosshead J, vertically-moving rods I, carrying thecross-head, and each provided at its lower end with alaterally-projecting friction-roller, h, and the cams L, each having agroove for the friction-roller to work in, as set forth.

3. In a machine for packing granulated material, the combination, withthe funnel-lifter P, of rods 19 to carry the lifter, a rod or shaft, 4,to connect the said rods 19, and a cam, N, to iheart1 upward against therod or shaft 1', as set ort 4. In a machine for packing granulatedmaterial, the combination, with the. presser-rod 7c and the agitators g,of a ratchet-wheel, g, mounted on the shaft to which the agitators 5 areattached, a lever, I, having one end pivoted and the other endconnected, substantially as described, to the presser-rod, and a pawl,it, carried on the lever, to engage with the ratchet-wheel, whereby,upon the upward 1o movement of the presser-rod, the agitators are set inmotion to loosen the material in the hopper. and effect the filling ofthe then upturned measuring-cylinder, as shown and described.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

JAMES R. LAWRENCE.

